A Directory of Great Architectures

Archive for December, 2009

Located on the banks of the River Tees, UK, the new biomass power plant will be built to produce 49.3MW of power. This man-made mountain power plant is designed by Thomas Heatherwick, and is beleived to decrease carbon emissions by 80% compared to coal or gas fired power stations.

Designed by Zaha Hadid (one of famous architects that I like most), the construction of Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum is reported to begin in March 2010 and is due for completion two years later. Encased with glass and metal pleats, the 3-storey building will house 18,000 square feet of exhibition space, an education centre, museum shop, visitor café and staff offices.

Sited in Gothenburg, Kuggen gets its second award this year, thank to its energy efficient concept. The project was designed by Swedish firm Wingardhs and goes beyond state of the art solutions for ventilation, lighting, heating and cooling. Housing 192 conform office units, this circular building features triangular windows that allows daylight to follow the ceiling deep into the building while staying at a low ratio (30%) of the elevation surface.

We know LED is kind of green sources of light, but I don’t think it’s wise to build an ambitious LED project just to show the world that we have built the largest one in the world. Just to inform you that such project has been completed in Abu Dhabi, the Yas Hotel. The building is a wrapped with a sparkling shell composed of more than 5,300 diamond-shaped panels bristling with over 5,000 LED fixtures, I don’t how much energy it spends a day just to please our eyes at night.

Designed by Rafael Viñoly, the Carrasco International Airport is scheduled to open this month. This international airport will serve Uruguay’s capital city of Montevideo. Featuring 1,200-foot-long curved roof, the design of the building integrates into its site and emphasizes its public zones and amenities, providing these areas with an abundance of open space and natural light.